Mass Effect: Rise of an Empire
by Filtrat
Summary: After the control ending of ME3, more and more Reapers break free of Shepards control and attack the galactic civilisations. Follow an all new protagonist and a squad of old and completely new Mass Effect characters uncovering the sinister plan behind all this.
1. A new Job

A new Job

„Hooray" they yelled, when the Reapers finally ceased their fire and flew off the Earth. The N7 Unit under the command of Major Richard Armstrong was only seconds away from getting killed by the fire of a giant Reaper capital ship, as the sky was suddenly turned blue from a giant explosion in the orbit.

"Admiral Hackett, Sir, I report you the complete and utter defeat of the Reapers ground forces, the Reapers seem to flee from us" the Major said via his communicator.

"I know Major, we have incoming reports from the entire galaxy, the Reapers hold their fire and retreat. I guess the Crucible has worked and somehow changed the Reapers".

"Any Orders, Admiral?"

"Yes, our Fleets will stay in the Sol system, we won't follow the Reaper Ships trough FTL. Major I want you to check for any further resistance from the Husks and these other Reaper abominations, regroup with the rest of our ground forces and destroy what's left of them"

That was two years ago. The united forces under the command of the human Admiral Steven Hackett docked a device called The Crucible at the citadel, which sent out a huge blue energy wave across the galaxy, ending the Reaper war and heavily damaging every single mass relay.

Today everyone knows that the great Commander Shepard, Citadel Spectre and hero of the galaxy, the one who has united every sentient species, organic and synthetic alike, for the cause of fighting against the Reaper threat, sacrificed himself at the Citadel, uploading his DNA to the Crucible, which devastated his body and uploaded his mind into the Reapers. The Reapers, now under Shepards control, began to help the galactic civilisations to recover from the war, repairing the damaged mass relays and sharing their advanced knowledge and technology with every species represented on the Citadel. Two years after the giant battle, most of the Worlds were repaired, from the Terminus systems to the council space, every species enjoyed a period of peace and security.

Major Armstrong enjoyed a few batarian beers in a seedy little bar on Omega, when something caught his eye. It was a tall black haired woman with an aura that was stronger that anyone others in the bar, except maybe Major Richard himself, and she was clearly the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. She had the blue clothes of an alliance special agent on and walked straight up to the Major, without even caring for any other being in the bar.

"Major Armstrong, former N7?" she asked.

"Aye that's me, and you are Miss?"

"Lawson, Miranda Lawson, special operative of the Alliance"

"Okay, listen Miss Lawson. I don't know who you are and what you want from me, but I retired from the military after the Reaper war, so if you're searching for an N7 major, look for someone else."

"You are exactly the one I'm looking for Mr. Armstrong. I want you to come with me, we have to talk"

"Whatever it is, I won't come with you, I'm here drinking my beer and having a good time, if you want to talk with me, say what you have to say to me here right now"

"I won't talk about sensitive alliance intel at this place Major, you will come with me"

"Alright, let me atleast pay for my beer"

They were leaving the bar at a high speed, not paying for his beer. Miranda told him that she wanted to recruit him for some kind of job, but she didn't want to talk with him about it in public.

The alliance agent brought Richard to a Kodiak shuttle, which left the Planet as fast as its possible for this type of vessel. Omega was still an ugly, seedy place filled with all kinds of criminal scum, bars and shady market places where you could buy all kinds of stuff you can get for credits, ranging from spacecraft tech to a killing contract. When Richard looked out of the Kodiaks window, he saw Omega's damage surface and ravaged city districts. The Station hasn't been fully repaired since its occupation by the Cerberus fleet. Sure, Arias Afterlife and the homes of the Crime Lords and Mercenary Leaders shined like never before, but little efforts were made by Omega's rulers to repair the rest of the station.

"So here I am, in your shuttle and I don't know where we're going. What do you want from me" Richard asked.

"I guess you've heard from the latest "malfunctions" of some of the Reapers"

"Yeah I heard that a few Reaper destroyers went crazy and attacked the councils fleets"

"Major this is serious, we believe that someone or something is separating single Reapers from Shepards control and using them against us. Until now only a few attacks by small destroyers happened, but even these caused terrible casualties for the councils navy, can you imagine what would happen if a Reaper capital ship would go crazy and decides to attack one of our colonies?"

"And you are sure that it's not Shepard having a little god complex…"

"Major" she interrupted him "Shepard fought and died for everyone including you and me in the galaxy to stop the Reapers and you seriously think that it's possible…"

"Just a thought"

"besides he's the one telling us that the attacking Reapers are not under his control anymore and we have no evidence that should let us not trust Shepard anymore, but let's continue with this when we have arrived at the ship"

The Kodiak docked at a bigger alliance vessel.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy SR2, Major" a VI Voice said.

"Wait a second, this is the Normandy, Shepards Ship?"

"Yes it is" Richard recognised this voice.

"Joker?"

"Yup, that's me"

"Hey man it's good to see you alive. We haven't seen us in like 6 years or something, I still owe you a beer"

They have been friends for a long time in the past, the last time they've seen each other was when Joker saved Richards unit from a batarian attack many years ago, he was the only pilot able to reach the batarian lines to help the squad with air support. After that, they've lost contact which each other, Joker was moved to the alliance's experimental ship flotilla, which later recommended him to be the pilot for the SSV Normandy SR1. After these events, Richard decided to enter the Interplanetary Combatives Training program, which made him an N7 soldier.

"Major, we need to talk, meet me at my bureau, crew deck third floor, quickly" Miranda interrupted them.

"I'll be there, just give me 5 minutes with Joker"

Richard followed Joker, as he returned to his pilot seat.

"You know, most of the crew here served under Shepard, some like me even on the Normandy SR1"

"So you've been the one who destroyed the Sovereign? And the one who managed to get through the Omega 4 relay? Wow Joker, and I thought my Job was hard" he laughed.

"Aye, but as you know, when it comes to flying, I'm the best and they needed the goddamn best pilot in the Alliance navy. It was a pretty great time, I was there, at the very beginning of all this, at Eden Prime. We discovered this whole Reaper thing."

"Any Ideas why Miranda brought me up here? And did she also worked for Shepard with you?"

"No, Rich, all I know is that she is leading this operations and we're after what makes the Reapers go crazy and murder everyone, pretty big thing i guess. And for her history with Shepard and this ship, I'd say you gotta ask her these questions yourself"

"So Miranda was part of Shepards squad. Were they… they weren't together, were they?

"No, you know Liara T'Soni? Shepard was with her since these two met for the first time. It's a real shame that he had to die, really. It's hard, cause you know, he was more than our commander."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Nay it's okay Rich, now I guess Miranda would like to talk to you"

"I should go" Richard said has he went to the elevator.

"So, what do you want from me Ms. Lawson?" Richard asked as he entered her room.

"Shepard is losing control over the Reapers, the attacks become more and more devastating every week, and we need to investigate on this as soon as possible. To make a long story short, after Shepards death, we don't have a human spectre anymore that's really up to the task. Lt. Commander Williams is a great soldier and a brave fighter, but in this case, we need someone who can lead and who can inspire others. The Alliance wants you to be our new spectre, we will travel to the council at the citadel, Lt. Williams will recommend you as a new spectre and then retire from her spectre duties. You will then take over this operation and lead our investigations in this case. The alliance supreme command wants this problem solved as soon as possible and they believe that you're the right man for the job"

"But I think as a soldier she's atleast as capable as me, and she fought with Shepard, I believe she's perfect for the spectre job"

"Maybe, but the reason we've chosen you is not only that you've graduated the N7 program with great success, only Shepard achieved a higher rating during the final tests and exercises, or that you posses extraordinary skills with all kinds of firearms and your stealth cloak implants are the best available, but it was Shepard in his Reaper form who recommended you to us, he was your Instructor back at the N-school, remember?"

"I guess I'm good enough for the job, but being promoted to a spectre, right now? And how do you know about my implants?"

"Well since you were an alliance major, it wasn't really hard to find information about you. You are Richard J. Armstrong, born on the 20th January 2158 in Los Angeles, you've signed up for the alliance military at the age of 19, your parents are still together, and your all time favorite film is Blasto 8: Blasto Cures the Genophage, we've checked your Extranet activties."

"Impressive that you haven't looked on any notes for that, you're good" he laughed "Now I need to think about this spectre thing, alone. Where are my quarters, I need a place to sleep and stuff"

"I have already prepared your room, it's the suite of the commanding officer, at the first floor"

"Commander Shepards Room? Okay, wow. But for now, where are going right now?"

"Joker makes the Normandy ready for the mass relay jump in this very moment, we will be travelling directly to the citadel. As is said, I prepared your room, you can go there anytime you want, Mr. Armstrong."

"Thanks alot Miranda, and you can call me Richard by the way"

He went off to his quarters, there he saw a perfectly made bed, and all the stuff Shepard collected during his adventures, the fish and all these ship models, all in all it pretty much looked like Commander was still there, still living and giving orders on this ship, but Richard knew that he would be in charge as soon as he would become a spectre, that he would be some kind of a replacement for the great Shepard.

"Well, I guess it's time to check the ship and meet everyone here, the only one I really know here well is Joker, but we haven't seen us for years know." Richard thought as he laid down on his bed.

He struggled with the thought of now being in the role of Shepard, of a team leader again, but this certainly wasn't his crew, atleast not yet, would they accept him as their commander? Could they follow him into battle like they once followed Shepard through the Omega 4 relay? He didn't know. But now there was no going back, he was there, at the Normandy, soon becoming a spectre, a fighter for the entire mankind.


	2. The Citadel

The Citadel

"Mass relay jump successful, Commander Lawson. The Normandy is on her way"

said Joker via his intercom.

Richard went down to Joker, to see if everything is alright.

"Hey Joker, wait, who's this?"

"This? This is EDI, its the Ship, basically"

"The Ship?"

"Major Armstrong, I'm the Enhanced Defensive Intelligence of this ship, the crew calls me EDI. I'm a fully developed Artificial Intelligence. This body is a Cerberus android, I seized control of it, which makes me able to aid your squad with limited ground fire support. Basically I am both this ground unit and the ship."

"So who's piloting the Normandy? You or Joker?"

"Although you could see this ship as my body, I leave the control of the Normandy to Joker."

"Rich, go to the crew deck man, bet you could get a nice view on the Citadel."

Nearly the entire crew met up at the windows of the Normandy to see the Citadel, before they would land in the Alliance dock. After being repaired and moved back into the Serpent Nebula, the Citadel looked greater and better than ever before. Richard and Miranda joined them.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I've been so many times to the Citadel now, but you cannot fail to be impressed by it, it's still a sight to see for me" she said to Richard.

"I've seen the Citadel only two or three times in my life. The last time was shortly before the Reaper war started. Come on, Joker will dock the ship soon, let's go to the shuttle. "

The two walked to the elevator

"Can I ask you a few questions, Miranda?"

"Sure"

"I've heard you were part of Shepards squad"

"Yes, I was with him since the first Normandy was destroyed until we've destroyed the Collector Base together. You should know that I've used to be an operative for the Illusive Man"

"You worked for Cerberus?"

"Don't worry, I've never had anything to do with what Cerberus did during the War, or the sick tests and experiments they did. I've led the Lazarus Project, my only goal was to bring back Commander Shepard, after he did not survive the destruction of the first Normandy"

"So what made you leave Cerberus?"

"When we arrived the Collector-Base, we found out what the Collectors have done to the abducted colonists. Today it's common knowledge why they tried to built a Reaper, but I was deeply in shock about it when I saw this. Shepard decided to blow the whole Station up, but the Illusive Man wanted me to stop him from doing so. I realised how perverted and sick this man really was, everyone wanted this place to be gone. He wanted to use the station and its technology for his own goals. Up to this point, I believed in Cerberus and what it stood for, but this place couldn't offer anything for anyone that would justify to spare this base."

"So how did you end up as an agent for the alliance? I mean I would rather call the security when a former Cerberus agent knocked at the door of my office instead of giving him a job."

"Well, during the Reaper war I spend most of the time evading Cerberus. They were trying to hunt me down, they won't accept it, when you quit your job, especially with my knowledge, I've led an entire cell of Cerberus. I couldn't join the alliance, because they were at war with Cerberus and the Reapers, and as you said, they wouldn't trust me or even let me join them. After the destruction of the Cronos station and the death of the Illusive Man I managed to proof that I didn't have anything to do with Cerberus at that time and joined the Alliance"

"How did you do that? The Cerberus agents I've encountered during the Reaper war were indoctrinated and had these little bombs implanted in their head, I wonder why they haven't shot you at first sight."

"During the war I found out about a refugee centre called the Sanctuary, a Cerberus facility. They've enticed refugees from all over the galaxy to go there, but instead of helping them as promised, they made cruel and disgusting experiments with these poor people, like turning them into Husks to find a way to gain control over the Reapers. The reason I got there was more a personal thing, it had to do with my father, he was responsible for all this. Together with Shepard I put an end to all this "

"And your father, what happened to him?"

"As I said it's a personal thing, it didn't have anything to do with him working for Cerberus, let's just say that he didn't survived our little family gathering."

The two entered the Shuttle, flying over to the Zakera Ward and took a skycar to the Presidium, where they would meet the Ashley and the Council.

"We will meet up with Lt. Commander Williams and Councillor Robinson and prepare everything for your introduction to the Council."

Robinson was the new Councillor, elected by the Alliance after Councillor Udina got shot and killed for his attempt to overthrow the Council together with Cerberus.

"Welcome to the Citadel Embassies, Major. Agent Lawson it's good to see you too, I'm very pleased to see that you both could came here so quickly" the Councillor welcomed them. "Ashley will soon be here too, I believe it's the traffic"

The Councillor was a tall, grey haired man, who looked kind of like Udina, before he dyed his hair black, and spoke with a strong British accent.

"Could you explain me something, Councillor? The supreme command of the Alliance wants me to represent mankind as a spectre and find out why the Reapers break free of Shepards will. But why does Ashley need to give up her status as a spectre?"

"Even though we've defeated the Reapers together with the other Council races, we've lost a lot of their trust with Udinas failed coup attempt. And with Commander Shepard controlling the entire Reaper race, the Council has decided that we can only have one active spectre at one time. Spectres are elite soldiers who operate above the law, I assume they don't wanna see more than one human with those rights. I know its unfair and I've already started a petition against this, but it's the law and right know we can't do anything about it."

Ashley arrived in a skycar

"Good day Councillor. Lawson, Armstrong. Now let's get this over with"

"I assume you know why we're here Ms. Williams?" Miranda asked her.

"Aye, and I guess you three here know that I don't have to do this. Spectres are above the law and I don't have to do what the Alliance wants me to do."

Miranda and Richard looked at each other.

"But if this is what my race wants, I'll do it. Not that I would love that spectre thing that much."

The Councillor answered "Excellent, now I want you all to stay at the Citadel, tomorrow I will summon a meeting of the Council, where we will nominate Major Armstrong to be the next human spectre."

"Do you want anything else from us Councillor?" Miranda asked.

"No, take the rest of your day off."

"Then we'll see you tomorrow, Ashley" Richard said.

As they arrived in the Zakera Ward, they both decided to get something to eat. As they walked through the Ward, they came across a new restaurant, the Maude. It's located where the Zakera Café used to be, unfortunately the Cafe didn't reopen after the Reaper war.

"Wait Miranda, let's get something to eat, I'm starving."

"Let's get ourselves these Calamari Gumbo, Richard"

"Okay, sure"

As the cook turned around to take their order, both the cook and Miranda where surprised to see each other.

"Mess Sergeant Gardner, what are you doing here?

"Well, after we've bombed the Collectors back to the Stone Age, I quit my Job at Cerberus. And after I didn't know what do with my life, I've decided to stick with what I can do best and opened my own restaurant here on the Citadel.

"Please tell me that you now wash your hands

before you cook, I could hear the conversation you had with Shepard. "

"Don't worry Ms. Lawson, I do it, I do it, sometimes atleast hehe.

And the good thing about having my restaurant here on the Citadel is that I don't have to do the plumbing anymore"

"Wait a second, so the man cleaning the toilets also prepared the meals on the Normandy? Miranda please tell me that the cook and the plumber are now two different guys."

"It wasn't that bad" Gardner said "as you will see it's all about the right ingredients and not so much about where you had your hands on five minutes before you cooked the meal. Luckily you can buy some really good stuff here at the Citadel. Oh, your Calamari are ready"

Gardner could tell that the two were enjoying the food he has cooked, which made him smile.

Richard was surprised how insanely fast Miranda inhaled her portion and ordered even more food.

"Wow I'm not even done with the my first portion, and you've already eaten 4 of them."

"Rich, I'm a biotic, and you know that biotics need to consume many calories."

"Didn't know you were a biotic, Miranda"

The two spend the rest of their day visiting the different shops and stores of the Zakera Ward. They could swear that they've heard "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel" in more than one shop, but that may be because they were dead tired after an entire day of travelling around the Citadel. Richard got a little bit angered, because he didn't get a discount in any of the shops they've visited.

On the next day they've walked up the stairs up to Council together with Ashley.

"Councillor Robinson informed us that the Alliance would like you to become the new human spectre, but I don't see why we should let you decide who's our first line of defence. I don't need to remind you that the Alliance has agreed that there can be only one human spectre at a time" said the Asari Councillor

"With all due respect, I'm allowed to retire from my duties, and as a Member of the Council, there must always be a human spectre. This men right here is the one I want to recommend you as my successor."

"Well then, Major Armstrong step forward. Will you serve the Council and the people of every world in the Citadel space? You will be able break our laws to defend them, you will have to kill people to safe lives and you will only obey our orders. We see through the plan of the Alliance, they want to put the right man in the place to ignore the laws, but we also see that the Reaper threat grows with every day, and since none of our spectres could find out anything to solve this crisis, we're willing to make you one of our agents. Your mission is to find out what makes the Reapers rebel against Shepard and attack will bring an end to all this. Major Armstrong, you are now a spectre. This meeting of the Council is adjourned"

Miranda and Richard walked away from the Council

"Congrats Richard, now let's go back to the Normandy"

Back at the Normandy they were informed that a Sovereign-Class Reaper ship attacked Nos Astra, the capital of the Asari colony Illium.

"Commander, we've got incoming reports that Nos Astra is being attacked by a Reaper Capital ship, the Asari garrison fleet protecting Illium was destroyed, any orders?"

"Joker set course for Illium, hopefully we'll be able to stop this. Atleast I want to find out what makes them attack us."

They travelled to Illium as fast as they could, trying to stop the Reaper from killing thousands.


	3. Illium

Mass Effect: Loss of Control

Illium

"Aww shit" Richard couldn't see a thing, but he knew that he was badly injured. He didn't exactly knew were he was, but it was a dark place and the air was full of dust. "I need to get out of here" he thought. Luckily, he had a great amount of Medigel with him, so he could atleast stand up and walk. He could see light shining through a little hole, so he climbed up what he believed were the ruins of a building. Finally, a breath of fresh air refilled his body with new energy, as see sun glared his view. Now he remembered everything.

He was on Illium, trying to stop a Reaper attack. He needed to find Miranda, he was with her, when the Reaper destroyed the Dantius Towers with his devastating main canon. Maybe she was trapped under the rubble like he was and couldn't manage to break free. In this moment, he realised how much he cared about her, although he only knew her for a few days now. But that didn't matter right know, he saw the giant Reaper literally shredding the Asari reinforcements.

"This is Council Spectre Armstrong, I need an extraction asap, can anyone hear me? Normandy do you copy? Anyone?"

"Copy Major, Evac shuttle deployed to your position"

"Joker, is everything alright? Where's Miranda?"

"She's fine Rich, I picked her up after the Dantius Towers collapsed: We thought you were dead, man, are you alright?"

"The Medigel cured my worst injuries, I'm okay, thanks."

The Shuttle was nearly shot down by the Reaper, but Joker could manage to pick up the shuttle. Aboard the Normandy, Richard could see the destruction that the Reaper has brought to Nos Astra. The giant towers and superstructures of the city were devastated, the huge Reaper destroyed everything in its path. Smaller buildings got crushed under his huge tentacle-like legs, and even the toughest structures melted under the fire of his advanced Reaper weapons. Although Richard wasn't there when the Reapers attacked Earth, he was sure that it couldn't have been more brutal than what the Reaper did on Illium.

Miranda walked into the shuttle bay of the Normandy.

"Richard I'm so glad that you're fine, I was really worried about you"

"Thanks, It's good to see you're alive Miranda. We won't give up, we will stop this"

"The Council wants to send a united fleet of asari, turian and human forces to destroy the Reaper, but I guess it will take hours if not days to form and deploy the fleet."

"Days? Fuck, have you seen what's going on out there? We need to stop this now."

"Major, I've sensed a signal from the planets surface, that may change the Reapers programming."

"Why hasn't anyone else tracked the signal long time ago EDI? How do you know its responsible for this?"

"Major, my A.I. core is partly based on the Sovereign, and the Reaper parts of my programming respond to the signal. Don't worry, my firewalls are able to hold it back. I assume Shepards control over the Reapers isn't strong enough to withstand it."

"You said you've tracked the signal? Where is it the emitter?"

"The signals source is located at the Trading Floor"

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets get down there. Miranda and EDI, you'll come with me. We'll put an end to this."

The Kodiak brought the squad to the Trading Floor. They slowly walked through the destroyed areas of the place, searching for whatever could send the signal that EDI found, when they found a dozen of Asari corpses.

"They've been shot Richard, and some of them have stabbing wounds."

"I see, guess whoever did this is responsible for the Reaper signal"

Suddenly Richard experienced an adrenalin rush like never before, as he sensed someone behind him. Everything was in slow motion when the monomolecular blade of a Phantom barely missed him. He managed to dodge the attack and kill the Phantom with his Omni-Blade.

"What the fuck is Cerberus doing here? Thought we got rid of these guys"

Seconds after killing the Phantom, the squad got attacked by a swarm of Assault Troopers, Centurions and more Phantoms. Miranda slammed two troopers with her biotics, killing then instantly. While she and EDI fought the incoming Assault Troopers, Richard faced the Phantoms.

"Looks like we're gonna have a good old swordfight" he picked up the Blade from the dead Phantom, and attacked the Phantoms. He fought his way through them, blocking their attacks and killing them one by one. Cloaking and striking them from the Shadows, the Phantoms didn't stand a chance against this N7 elite. He even managed to grab one during the fight and use it as a meat shield against the stabs from another phantom. He saw a Phantom decloaking behind Miranda, but Richard threw his sword at it, right before it could attack her.

"Thanks, didn't saw that one"

The remaining Cerberus forces fled from Richard and his squad, but Miranda managed to stop one Centurion shooting him in the knee. EDI wanted to shoot him, but Richard stopped her from doing so. "Wait, these Cerberus are different, Cerberus troops never flee, yet these do"

Miranda pulled the Mattock rifle away from the Centurion with her biotics to make sure he couldn't attack anymore. The squad pointed their guns at him.

"Alright, if you cooperate we won't shoot you. I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want then answered immediately."

"Go to hell"

"Listen, I see your leg is bleeding quite heavily, Miranda might have hit an artery. If you want to live, I've got some Medigel for you before you bleed out. Take of your helmet Cerberus, I want to see your face."

The Centurion took of his helmet. Richard knew that these Cerberus troops were different, they fled from combat and were much easier to defeat than any Cerberus Troops he had encountered during the Reaper war. What he saw didn't surprised him at all. He looked at the Face of a young man. A young man without Reaper upgrades, without visible signs of indoctrination, a young man that tried hard to pretend that he wasn't scared of facing his death.

"When I help you, Cerberus will kill me. If I don't, I may bleed to death anyway."

"Richard, he's a waste of time, let him die"

"Wait Miranda, I believe he can help us. The Alliance can protect you from Cerberus, if you provide us your knowledge. What is Cerberus planning? I thought Cerberus ended after we destroyed your headquarters."

"Cerberus is an idea. We don't need no Illusive Man, nor any space station to exist."

"That doesn't help me, what is your plan, why are you doing this?"

"I, I don't know. But the Reaper attacks are part of a plan, a plan that will ensure human dominance in the galaxy. All I can tell you is that my unit brought the sender from a base on Parnack."

"Parnack, wait, that is the homeworld of the Yagh, isn't it?"

Richard gave him the medigel. The wound stopped bleeding and the Centurion was able to stand up again.

"What can you tell me about the base? What is Cerberus doing there. How do you control the Reapers?"

"It's a research facility. I said I don't know more. I appreciate it that you let me live, but I told you everything I know."

"I believe him. That's typical for Cerberus cell-structure. Minimal knowledge about anything other than their primary objective. Only the leaders know the full scale of Cerberus' plans."

"If you say so Miranda. EDI what do you think, a Cerberus base on the homeworld of a hostile sentient species, can we trust him?"

"The yahg are a pre-spaceflight species, their technology is on the same level as the human technology in the early 20th Century. Although they've been visited by a Council delegation decades ago, they have made no effort in reaching space. I doubt they have launched satellites in their orbit, so it could be possible for Cerberus to maintain a secret base on the planets surface without the Yahg's knowledge."

Soon after they left the Centurion, they've found the sender. It looked like a Leviathan artefact, but upgraded with tech. The Reaper was still out there, devastating the city. Maybe the destruction of the sender would bring an end to this, so they attached explosives at the artefact. But even after that thing got destroyed, the Reaper continued his rampage.

"Okay, that doesn't help. Any ideas?"

"The Reaper is heading our way, I recommend a quick retreat"

"I won't give up EDI. Look what this Reaper has done, we need to stop this now."

"Richard we've done everything we could do, we can't fight a Reaper alone."

"Wait, the signal is destroyed. Which means that Cerberus can't control Reapers anymore. We may can't stop this Reaper, but Shepard can."

"A Reaper fighting a Reaper? That's ridiculous"

"I don't care. The only thing that can destroy a Reaper is a huge fleet or another Reaper. EDI, are there any Sovereign-Class ships in this Cluster?"

"Yes currently there is one more Reaper in the area"

"We need to contact Shepard now"

Right in this moment the Reaper got hit by a red beam. Another giant Reaper landed on the Planet.

"Hell yeah Shepard. Okay we need to get out of here, this isn't our fight anymore. Normandy, I need an extraction shuttle, now"

Miranda and Richard looked couldn't stop looking at this Clash of the Titans, as they flew away from the site. EDI didn't seem to care, since she was an A.I. with little care for the tension of this battle.

The Shepard Reaper took severe damage from his Cerberus controlled counterpart, but managed to shoot off 2 of its legs. The Cerberus Reaper then fell, which caused huge havoc to the already devastated city. Shepard finished off the Reaper by shooting his E-Zero core with a full blast of his main canon, which caused a huge explosion.

"That takes care of it, the Reaper is done."

"Any idea how Shepard knew that it was safe for him to attack the Reaper Miranda?"

"No, we don't fully understand the nature of Shepards control over the Reapers, he can't speak through them. I guess he sensed that the signal was gone and was able to stop the Reaper. The Reapers under his control always communicated with us rather through actions than words."

Back on the Ship they took the rest of their day off. Exhausted from fighting Cerberus, Miranda went to her room. Richard went down to Joker.

"Rich, that's was unbelievable. A Reaper killing a Reaper, sweet."

"Aye, although we could have saved more if we found the signal faster. That first trip down was a complete disaster. I nearly got myself killed, and jeopardized the health of my companions for nothing"

"Atleast we could stop him Rich, you did good"

"I don't know. But what really bothers me is Cerberus. If they can control a Reaper now.."

"It's always the same. Geth, Collectors, Cerberus, Reapers. This shit's never ending. Good that we're here to face them"

"Aye"

"So what's next Richard? Any orders?

"We've interrogated a Centurion down there. There seems to be a Cerberus base on Parnack, don't know if it's reliable information. Could be a trap"

"Makes sense for me. Think of it, the Council declared the planet off limits, and Cerberus has Reaper tech. No one would look for them on Parnack, and they can hide themselves from the Yahg. Cerberus were always sly bastards"

"For now set course for Earth. I want a few upgrades for the Normandy before we go down there."

"Aye Major. By the way you got a mail by Archangel."

"Archangel?"

"Go check it out Rich. This guy will come in handy"


End file.
